ꜱᴀᴠɪᴏʀ//ᴛᴠᴅᴜ

I.VI

Rome, Italy

On the day of April 6th, 2000, at three AM, the Castle-Mikaelson household was silent.

Well, it was silent in the room that held little Ryden Mikaelson, who was turning seven that day.

The rest of the house however, was in shambles. Two vampires rushed through the house making sure that everything was in the correct place for their little girl's birthday.

At eight in the morning, Ryden was awoken by the sun kissing her face as it peeked through the curtains in her room. Groaning softly, the young girl let out a gentle sigh and sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. When she looked around her room, she saw two men wearing weird clothes standing in her room. Her eyes widened, but she didn't make a noise.

She watched the two converse, apparently not noticing that she was awake. She studied the two men in front of her intently, before a huge smile made its way onto her face as she noticed that it was her father's brothers. Ryden jumped out of her bed and rushed toward the two men and threw her arms around their waists, giving them both a tight hug.

Both men froze and their conversation ended abruptly as they felt something, someone, wrap around their waists. For both of the men, the contact, along with the loving feeling that came with said contact, felt foreign. The men could barely remember a time when the contact they received was anything closely related to a familial touch. Ryden giggled as she saw the shocked faces of her two uncles. She slowly pulled away from the two and was about to start talking when her bedroom door opened.

"Blue, I heard your giggles. Are you excited for your-" The voice of her Père was cut short as he saw the two men who were in her room. A look of horror crossed his face briefly before he flashed up to his kid and grabbed her, holding her closely to his chest. He then stood a great distance away and yelled down to his lover.

"NIK! COME UP TO RYDEN'S ROOM NOW!"

The door was flung open less than a second later, Nik entering the room with a panicked look on his face. He looked around and immediately locked eyes with his two brothers in the room. His face paled drastically when he processed what was happening.

"Daddy! Uncle Kol and Uncle Finn came to see me on my birthday! My wish came true!" All heads snapped towards the little girl in the room, eyes softening and hints of smiles appearing on both her uncles faces.

Kol slowly started to move toward his niece, only to be stopped by his brother standing in his way. Nik held a challenging look on his face, practically daring his brother to take another step forward.

A hurt look passed Kol's face briefly before a raised brow and a smirk replaced it. "I'm not going to hurt her, Nikky. I simply just want to meet my darling witch of a niece who I have been watching over since she was born."

Nik stared at his younger brother, who now was sporting a charming smile, with hesitant eyes. He glanced at his older brother, who was still frozen in his spot, eyes still locked onto the youngest Mikaelson. Without saying anything, Nik turned around and looked at his lover, having a silent conversation that ended with Lucien, reluctantly, setting Ryden down on the ground.

Kol smiled widely as the girl ran toward him. He opened his arms, ready to wrap her in a hug and never let go, only for her to duck under his arms and run into the arms of her uncle Finn instead. Kol's smile dropped instantly.

Ryden had Finn wrapped in a hug so tight, the man couldn't escape even if he wanted to. He didn't.

Ryden knew that her Uncle Finn had felt unwanted by his family ever since he lost his older sister, her Aunt Freya. The youngest Mikaelson wanted to make sure that he never felt that way again, and that he never felt like he was alone in the world.